Posts Tagged ‘carbonnade’

Nestled in the center of Brussels in a quiet quarter south of the Grand Place is Restobières, the fabled specialist in Belgian dishes cooked in beer. Although it’s maybe ten minutes away from the nearest metro by foot, the cuisine and cozy atmosphere is worth the walk.

Business was slow when we went, so the friendly waitress had lots of opportunity to help us choose beers and main dishes off the extensive menu. A variety of unique beers were on offer that really shouldn’t be missed.

Of course the food was the kicker. I had the beef carbonnade (12 euros), along with chunky stoemp mashed potatoes mixed with spinach and other vegetables. It may sound like every other carbonnade in Belgium, but no — this meat was tender and juicy, and the rich beer sauce went perfectly with it. The stoemp scoops also were unique, and had a roasted flavor in them. This classic Belgian dish also looked as good as it tasted.

The next time I go back, I want to try the salmon filet in Kriek sauce. Maybe I can order it take-out?

I call BS. Around lunchtime at La Terrasse by Merode, a sign clearly indicated that mussels were available inside, and my friends visiting from outside Belgium had quite the hankering for some mussels.

When we sat down on the pleasant outdoor terrace surrounded by hedges and asked for them, the waitress said that unfortunately they had just run out. C’est dommage! So instead we ordered the carbonnade (~12 euros), which is, for the record, visually appealing but much better elsewhere.

Ten minutes into our meal, a bunch of francophones came in to eat, and lo and behold, they received a bucket of mussels.

Blast! No mussels, my queue.

Maybe they had pre-ordered the mussels before coming in, but I don’t know. Maybe the afternoon waitress doesn’t like foreigners. Despite the charming atmosphere, the quality of the food is hit-or-miss here, anyway, so this adds one more reason to skip eating here sometimes. They once replaced the burger meat with a slab of meatloaf, which was pretty bad. Then again, the fried chicken burger is good. Ah, consistently inconsistent.

I actually read about this restaurant on a Facebook group called On va manger où? I was searching for recommended Belgian brasseries or restaurants. People raved about this place, and a few weeks ago with a friend in town from Germany I finally had the chance to try it out.

I had the carbonnade au lambic (15.50 euros) which was excellent. I also tried another dish: succulent rabbit (à la gueze ~ 18.50 euros). Two thumbs up for quality Belgian food and decent prices, but unfortunately the place is tiny, unbearably hot, and they wanted to charge us 500 euros for trying to bring our own cake. You can imagine that we didn’t end up eating the cake until in the car (true story).

Go for the food, but make sure you have a small group! We also had to make a reservation for a Friday night as they are usually packed.